In Lviv, the inscription “Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic” is being removed from the old-style protective boards placed at cultural heritage sites.
The method of removing the inscription is as follows: first it is rubbed, then a light spot is glued with reinforced tape, and then it is painted with a special alkyd paint. Heorhiy Korneev, deputy head of the historical environment protection department, said this.
“Inscriptions are first removed using an abrasive method. Since these boards are made of a special sculptural alloy, after rubbing, a light spot appears at the place of the inscription. We paint it. And before applying paint, we use reinforced tape, which covers all the irregularities,” explained Georgy Korneev.
The Department for the Protection of the Historic Environment emphasizes that it is not advisable to dismantle the boards themselves, as they are strong and properly indicate the status of the building. And they also have elements of Ukrainian identity: their style was developed in the 1970s on the basis of fonts and ornaments, which were developed by the outstanding Ukrainian graphic artist Heorhiy Narbut. The only inscription subject to decommunization is the inscription “Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic”.
“We can say that these boards are unique. Because such a design for security boards was used only for one of the republics at that time – Ukrainian,” – added Georgy Korneev.
As a reminder, there are still about 50 security boards with Soviet inscriptions in Lviv, which should be removed.